Predictive analytics could save endangered zebras

Marwell Wildlife uses SPSS tools to help conserve rare breed in northern Kenya

Marwell Wildlife is focused on protecting the Grevy zebra in Kenya

Conservation charity Marwell Wildlife is using business analytics software to help conserve the endangered Grévy's Zebra.

The organisation is using predictive analytics to help identify patterns and analyse data which will help inform decisions on conservation measures for the species.

The 15-year-old charity has a focus on protecting the rare breed of zebra. It has been monitoring the species using aerial and ground surveys. In February 2010, Marwell Wildlife led a collaborative effort to survey the region of Kenya inhabited by the zebra.

“We talked to local people, because the area inhabited by the zebra is very remote and the communities in that part of Kenya are nomadic. We decided the best way to get information about the species was to set up a questionnaire survey and we did 220 interviews in total, as well as collecting background information,” explained Dr Guy Parker, head of biodiversity management at Marwell Wildlife.

“We came back with a lot of data and that’s where IBM’s predictive analytics comes in. We used software from IBM subsidiary SPSS to analyse this quite complex data set and the software was able to see patterns and relationships in different variants and we got some nice results from the questions,” he added.

Marwell Wildlife now has a more detailed understanding of the issues surrounding the zebra and is better able to understand the threats facing the species. The charity said that this would allow limited conservation resources to be focused on these areas.